Packing Tape Dispenser

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a packing tape dispenser which comprises a frame for mounting a roll of tape, a cutting blade fastened to a front end of the frame, the cutting blade not being able to move relative to the frame, a first plate slidably engaging the frame and being able to slide between a front location and a rear location, when the first plate being at the front location, a front edge of the first plate being positioned in front of the cutting blade for preventing the cutting blade to come into contact with other objects, and when the first plate being at the rear location, the front edge of the first plate being positioned behind the cutting blade for exposing the same for cutting, and a spring coupled to the frame and urging the first plate to slide toward the front location.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to dispensers for adhesivetapes, and, more particularly, to packing tape dispenser.

People that pack a large number of packages for shipping often usespecialized tape dispensers, designed for sealing boxes with shippingtape using only one hand. One of such packing tape dispensers has aframe supporting a handle and a roll of tape. The frame also include ahinged level, when pushed, will force out a cutting blade over a stretchof the tape.

A common problem with conventional packing tape dispensers is that theydo not cut tape very easily especially under less ideal situation due totheir structural characteristics. Chief among them is that the tape isoften suspended over a rather long stretch and can move. It is not easyto make a cut when an object can move back away.

As such, what is desired is a packing tape dispenser that can be easilyapplied.

SUMMARY

A packing tape dispenser is disclosed which comprises a frame formounting a roll of tape, a cutting blade fastened to a front end of theframe, the cutting blade not being able to move relative to the frame, afirst plate slidably engaging the frame and being able to slide betweena front location and a rear location, when the first plate being at thefront location, a front edge of the first plate being positioned infront of the cutting blade for preventing the cutting blade to come intocontact with other objects, and when the first plate being at the rearlocation, the front edge of the first plate being positioned behind thecutting blade for exposing the same for cutting, and a spring coupled tothe frame and urging the first plate to slide toward the front location.

The construction and method of operation of the invention, however,together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be bestunderstood from the following description of specific embodiments whenread in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a side view of a packing tape dispenser according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed top view of a cutter assembly of the packing tapedispenser of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views of the cutter assembly of FIG.2.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification areincluded to depict certain aspects of the invention. A clearerconception of the invention, and of the components and operation ofsystems provided with the invention, will become more readily apparentby referring to the exemplary, and therefore non-limiting, embodimentsillustrated in the drawings, wherein like reference numbers (if theyoccur in more than one view) designate the same elements. The inventionmay be better understood by reference to one or more of these drawingsin combination with the description presented herein.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a packing tape dispenser. A preferredembodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter withreference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of a packing tape dispenser according to anembodiment of the present invention. The packing tape dispenser 100includes a frame 110 that has a vertical part 110 and a horizontal part115. A roll of tape 120 is mounted on a wheel 130 which is in turnpivotally mounted to the frame's vertical part 110 at an axle 135. Ahandle 140 is mounted to the frame's vertical part 110. The handle 140has an extended member 145 that, together with the frame's horizontalpart 115, form a narrow passage way for passing a strip 125 of the tape120.

Referring again to FIG. 1, there is a hump 150 that is attached to theframe's horizontal part 115. The hump 150 has a smooth downward facingsurface and is wider than the tape strip 125, so that it can serve topress the tape strip 125 against a surface of a box (not shown). Infront of the frame's horizontal part 115 situates a cutter assembly 160for cutting the tape strip 125 when so desired.

FIG. 2 is a detailed top view of the cutter assembly 160 of the packingtape dispenser 100 of FIG. 1. The cutter assembly 160 comprises a blade210 fastened to the front of the frame's horizontal part 115, and asleeve 220 slidably engaging the frame's horizontal part 115 andcovering the blade 210. The blade 210 has a row of sharp teeth in thefront for cutting a tape strip. The blade 210 is exemplarily fastened tothe frame's horizontal part 115 by two sets of bolt-and-nut 232 and 234through openings 224 and 226, respectively. Apparently, the blade 210can be formed directly out of the frame's horizontal part 115.

Referring again to FIG. 2, the sleeve 220 is urged forward by two coilsprings 242 and 244. In its forward position, the sleeve 220 covers theblade 210 as shown in FIG. 2. The coil spring 242 is held in place by apole 252 formed on the frame's horizontal part 115, which can be made ofa sheet metal. Then the pole 252 can be formed by stamping out aU-shaped opening 262 on the sheet metal. The coil spring 244 isidentical to the coil spring 242, so are the associated structures.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are cross-sectional views at A-A′ of the cutter assembly160 of FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 3A, the sleeve has a top plate 220A anda bottom plate 220B with the frame's horizontal part 115 along with theblade 210 sandwiched in-between. The blade 210 is fastened to theframe's horizontal part 115 by a set of nut-and-bolt 232. Apparently,the blade 210 is not movable relative to the frame's horizontal part115. The bottom plate 220B also has an opening for accessing thenut-and-bolt 232 during the assembly of the cutter assembly 160, andalso for not letting the nut-and-bolt 232 interfere with the sliding ofthe sleeve 220. The nut-and-bolt set 232 limits the top plate 220A ofthe sleeve 220 from being urged to move further forward.

Referring again to FIG. 3A, the coil spring 242 urges the sleeve 220 tomove forward, so that the blade recedes into the sleeve 220 and cannotperform any cutting.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, the frame's horizontal part 115 is forcedagainst a wall 302 of, for instance, a packaging box. The front end ofthe top plate 220A of the sleeve 220 is in contact with the wall 302 andforces the sleeve 220 to slide backward which results in a compressedcoil spring 242. The nut-and-bolt set 232 limits the top plate 220A frombeing pushed further backward. Note that the top plate 220A is longerand protrudes more in front than the bottom plate 220B.

At the sleeve 220′s pushed-back position as shown in FIG. 3B, the blade210 protrudes in front of the bottom plate 220B, but is still behind thetop plate 220A. As a result, when a tape strip is stretched across thefront end of the top plate 220A and the front end of the bottom plate220B, the blade 210 will poke can cut the tape strip. Because the blade210 is still behind the top plate 220A, the wall 302 will not be pokedby the blade 210. As described earlier, the sleeve 220 cannot be pushedfurther back due to the limitation of the nut-and-bolt set 232, so thatthe blade 210 is always protected by the top plate 220A in the front.

Because a gap between the top plate 220A and the bottom plate 220B canbe made very small, for instance, about two millimeters, a tape stripstretched across the front end of the top plate 220A and the front endof the bottom plate 220B will be firmed suspended and very easy to becut by the blade 210.

The above illustration provides many different embodiments orembodiments for implementing different features of the invention.Specific embodiments of components and processes are described to helpclarify the invention. These are, of course, merely embodiments and arenot intended to limit the invention from that described in the claims.

Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodiedin one or more specific examples, it is nevertheless not intended to belimited to the details shown, since various modifications and structuralchanges may be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construedbroadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention, asset forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tape dispenser comprising: a frame for mountinga roll of tape; a cutting blade fastened to a front end of the frame,the cutting blade not being able to move relative to the frame; a firstplate slidably engaging the frame and being able to slide between afront location and a rear location, when the first plate being at thefront location, a front edge of the first plate being positioned infront of the cutting blade for preventing the cutting blade to come intocontact with other objects, and when the first plate being at the rearlocation, the front edge of the first plate being positioned behind thecutting blade for exposing the same for cutting; and a spring coupled tothe frame and urging the first plate to slide toward the front location.2. The tape dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a handle mounted tothe frame.
 3. The tape dispenser of claim 1, wherein the cutting bladehas a row of teeth in the front for cutting the tape.
 4. The tapedispenser of claim 1, wherein the first plate is situated beneath thecutting blade in between the cutting blade and a tape strip.
 5. The tapedispenser of claim 4 further comprising a second plate coupled to thefirst plate and situated above the cutting blade, a backward movement ofthe second plate also causing the first plate to move backward by thesame distance, when the first plate being in the rear location, a frontedge of the second plate being in front of the cutting blade forpreventing to cutting blade to contact an object directly in frontthereof.
 6. The tape dispenser of claim 5 further comprising anut-and-bolt set for fastening the cutting blade to the frame, and thefirst and the second plate having respective openings allowing thenut-and-bolt set to go through.
 7. The tape dispenser of claim 6 whereinthe opening on the second plate, together with the nut-and-bolt set,cause the first plate to stop at the front and rear locations.
 8. Thetape dispenser of claim 5, wherein the first and the second plate form asleeve flanking the cutting blade.
 9. The tape dispenser of claim 5,wherein the spring also urges the second plate to move forward.
 10. Thetape dispenser of claim 1 further comprising a smooth member attached toa bottom of the frame and having a width wider than a tape strip forpressing the same against a surface.
 11. The tape dispenser of claim 1,wherein the cutting blade is formed out of the frame.
 12. A tapedispenser comprising: a frame for mounting a roll of tape; a cuttingblade fastened to a front end of the frame, the cutting blade not beingable to move relative to the frame; a first plate slidably engaging andsituated beneath the frame and being able to slide between a frontlocation and a rear location, when the first plate being at the frontlocation, a front edge of the first plate being positioned in front ofthe cutting blade for preventing the cutting blade to come into contactwith other objects, and when the first plate being at the rear location,the front edge of the first plate being positioned behind the cuttingblade for exposing the same for cutting; a second plate coupled to thefirst plate and situated above the cutting blade, a backward movement ofthe second plate also causing the first plate to move backward by thesame distance, when the first plate being in the rear location, a frontedge of the second plate being in front of the cutting blade forpreventing to cutting blade to contact an object directly in frontthereof; and a spring coupled to the frame and urging the first plate toslide toward the front location.
 13. The tape dispenser of claim 12further comprising a handle mounted to the frame.
 14. The tape dispenserof claim 12, wherein the cutting blade has a row of teeth in the frontfor cutting the tape.
 15. The tape dispenser of claim 12 furthercomprising a nut-and-bolt set for fastening the cutting blade to theframe, and the first and the second plate having respective openingsallowing the nut-and-bolt set to go through.
 16. The tape dispenser ofclaim 15 wherein the opening on the second plate, together with thenut-and-bolt set, cause the first plate to stop at the front and rearlocations.
 17. The tape dispenser of claim 12, wherein the first and thesecond plate form a sleeve flanking the cutting blade.
 18. The tapedispenser of claim 12, wherein the spring also urges the second plate tomove forward.
 19. The tape dispenser of claim 12 further comprising asmooth member attached to a bottom of the frame and having a width widerthan a tape strip for pressing the same against a surface.
 20. The tapedispenser of claim 12, wherein the cutting blade is formed out of theframe.